Comparison of modeled and experimental PV array temperature profiles for accurate interpretation of module performance and degradation

Teri Elwood; Kelly Simmons-Potter

doi:10.1117/12.2274146

23 August 2017 Comparison of modeled and experimental PV array temperature profiles for accurate interpretation of module performance and degradation

Teri Elwood, Kelly Simmons-Potter

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10370, Reliability of Photovoltaic Cells, Modules, Components, and Systems X; 1037006 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2274146
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2017, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Quantification of the effect of temperature on photovoltaic (PV) module efficiency is vital to the correct interpretation of PV module performance under varied environmental conditions. However, previous work has demonstrated that PV module arrays in the field are subject to significant location-based temperature variations associated with, for example, local heating/cooling and array edge effects. Such thermal non-uniformity can potentially lead to under-prediction or over-prediction of PV array performance due to an incorrect interpretation of individual module temperature de-rating. In the current work, a simulated method for modeling the thermal profile of an extended PV array has been investigated through extensive computational modeling utilizing ANSYS, a high-performance computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software tool. Using the local wind speed as an input, simulations were run to determine the velocity at particular points along modular strings corresponding to the locations of temperature sensors along strings in the field. The point velocities were utilized along with laminar flow theories in order to calculate Nusselt’s number for each point. These calculations produced a heat flux profile which, when combined with local thermal and solar radiation profiles, were used as inputs in an ANSYS Thermal Transient model that generated a solar string operating temperature profile. A comparison of the data collected during field testing, and the data fabricated by ANSYS simulations, will be discussed in order to authenticate the accuracy of the model.

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Teri Elwood and Kelly Simmons-Potter "Comparison of modeled and experimental PV array temperature profiles for accurate interpretation of module performance and degradation", Proc. SPIE 10370, Reliability of Photovoltaic Cells, Modules, Components, and Systems X, 1037006 (23 August 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2274146

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KEYWORDS

Photovoltaics

Solar radiation models

Thermal modeling

Data modeling

Performance modeling

Solar cells

Heat flux

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